Lean Cuisine

Yes, I'm posting again (I just posted the slimfast thread 5 minutes ago).
I can't believe it's never occured to me to use Lean cuisine!
Have any of you had success with it? It makes so much sense...it's healthy, satisfying and low in calorie!
I only have 5 more pounds until my goal (whoohoo) and I'd like to lose them as soon as possible! THe last 5lbs are the hardest to lose, though.
What do you all think?

Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice and Smart Ones are all reasonable solutions to convenient meal planning. However, the nutritional balance of the various meals varies wildly. Most are a little heavy on sodium ideally, but lighter than "regular" frozen meals. Most are a little light on protein and vegetables. You'll want to supplement with additional vegetables, fruits, dairy, and maybe a little more protein to round it all out.

What you might want to do is use ediets.com. You pay a small fee every month and they will plan a menu for you . You can tell the system that you want to use Lean Cuisine, etc. and they will plan your meals around that. I have a friend who used this and was very happy with it. If you don't want to use ediets, take a look at fitday.com where you can track what you eat and monitor your nutritional balance.

Lean Cuisines are perfect for portion controlled meals. Like the other posters suggested, though, please add extra veggies on the side. Jennifer and I have examined many of them, pushing the veggie bits to the side and discovered that many contain very little. A tablespoon of veggies is not a serving, it's a garnish Add a side salad, some steamed broccoli or other favorite veggie to round it out. They keep downsizing them, too. An average frozen diet dinner used to contain 350 calories, now they seem to average 250. That's just not enough, unless you eat several mini-meals throughout the day.

I just recently tried Lean Cuisine Meals for the first time and was very satisfied. For me, if I were to make an entire lasagna, I would eat the entire lasagna. So only having a small portion helps me control my helpings. I have also noticed that they are very high in sodium, but most of the ones I have eaten are only about 25% of your daily intake, so I think it is ok.
It helps me, though, because if they are ordering pizza at work, I can bring a lean cuisine french bread pizza and not feel restricted, and not be tempted by the other pizza.
Also they are handy because by the time I get home from work each night (after 9pm) they are quick, I can eat and get to bed.

I like Lean Cuisines (and Healthy Choice, Smart Ones, and Michelina's Lean) meals a lot, and used them for lunch almost exclusively when I started out. I'm trying to cook more now so that my meals are more balanced, but I still buy lots of frozen dinners when they're on sale. I pretty much have been doing the 5-6 small meals thing, so the dinners fit very well into that, especially since my snack-meals always contain fruits and/or vegetables.

Basically, I think they're great as far as calorie-control and convenience, but I'm trying to limit them in my own diet to make sure I'm getting all the nutrients I need.

I'm going to stock up on the Lean Cuisines tomorrow after work. They look DELICIOUS. The thing is, I'd have to keep them in my backpack from 10am to 7pm (school and work)...so I'm not sure if the food will go bad. Thanks for the responses, ladies!

One I used for lunches that I haven't seen mentioned here are Amy's. They're sold with organics. Amy's has bean and veggie burritos, whole wheat macaroni with soy cheese, a veggie loaf (meat loaf) luncheon with mashed potatoes and peas and carrots, asian stir fry, brown rice with tofu bowl, enchiladas, etc. All are made with organics, soy and tofu, and believe it or not...they're actually pretty tasty.

The thing is, I'd have to keep them in my backpack from 10am to 7pm (school and work)...so I'm not sure if the food will go bad. Thanks for the responses, ladies!

We don't have a fridge at my workplace, so I keep them in an insulated lunch bag (and occasionally, just in a plastic bag) from 6:30 to noon - not as long as you'll need to, but I think you'll be okay as long as you use something insulated, and maybe have a little ice. You won't need to microwave them as long, though.

If you're worried about them going bad from being unrefridgerated, get some meatless entrees (do check out the Amy's for this; they're pretty tasty). Since everything is pre-cooked, the only thing you really would need to be concerned about is the meat. The meatless frozen meals are fine if they sit out for a bit (though the insulated lunch bag is a good idea).

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